[Xmca-l] Re: Time for a Generational Change

[vijith k]

Hi All,


I joined the group three four days back as suggested by Michael Cole!! Now
understand that I am at a historical juncture. I can imagine what would
have been the engagement throughout the years by reading the comments are
being posted.  I see the sea of intellectual engagement converge to
emotional drops and feel happy for knowledge.

I will also claim the ‘intellectual attention’ I got from him through his
few mails as reply to my queries.




Vijith K

Asst. Professor, Department of Psychology,

Govt. Arts and Science College Mankada, Kerala, India

vijith123@gmail.com

On Tue, Oct 25, 2016 at 2:20 PM, Kris Gutierrez <gutierkd@gmail.com> wrote:

> Vera, you said it beautifully, thank you. And while Mike tells me every
> chance he gets to "slow down," it’s your turn now, Mike. I know you are
> writing more and more but hope you also get to spend more time in your
> “garden”—both literally and metaphorically.
>
> This is personal but am confident my sentiments are shared widely.
>
> Despite my complaints to you about how gendered this space is, it was your
> voice and posts that I continually looked for and would read with care,
> save for another read later, and then would call you when I wanted more!.
> You always modeled on xmca, in the Lab and in our co-taught classes, how to
> provoke, inspire, and support all at the same time, as well as to
> understand why it is so important to seek and know the history of ideas, to
> cross boundaries and borders, and to be dissatisfied with anything less
> than the best we could do, especially with and for others.
>
> XMCA benefitted from your tireless devotion to expansive forms of learning
> and care.  You are a true community organizer.
>
> But no one, as Andy also said, has taught me more; not even a close
> second.  From my ugly written drafts to my best prepared talks, you were
> there in person as was your work, ideas, and critique (and sometimes
> scolding:), in ways you also have been on this space for so many
> generations of scholars. You are the only person I know who could give a
> “two word” review of a draft that would trigger a complete revision!
>
>  I share this here because the same thing was true on XMCA; it was your
> brief but ever thoughtful, packed comments and questions that so many of us
> appreciated on XMCA.  You never made XMCA your stage; instead, it was our
> intellectual playground (even for the lurkers). A good model to follow!
>
> What a legacy XMCA, MCA, LCHC, 5thD, and etc. etc. Thank you for inviting
> us always into these transformative spaces and thank you for making XMCA
> such an indispensable everyday resource.
>
> I know you will still be posting and pushing us to think on XMCA.  There
> is a lot more work to do and you have helped set the agenda. I am hopeful
> about the next generation of scholars who will push us to imagine and
> re-imagine (in the Mike and LCHC sense) this space in ways that that
> continue what you set out to do, as well as push us to engage in the
> never-ending task of making this activity system (as in all activity
> systems) more collective, inclusive, equitable, expansive, playful, and
> humanistic.
>
> We will continue to learn with you!
>
> Mil gracias, Mike.  Un abrazo fuerte!   Kris (excuse typos)
>
>
> Kris D. Gutiérrez
> Carol Liu Professor
> Graduate School of Education
> University of California, Berkeley
> 5629 Tolman Hall
> Berkeley, CA 94720-1670
> gutierrkd@berkeley.edu
>
>
>
>
> > On Oct 24, 2016, at 10:39 PM, Vera John-Steiner <vygotsky@unm.edu>
> wrote:
> >
> > Dear Mike,
> >
> > It is hard to say "thank you" to a person who has given so much to so
> many of us. Your commitment to our community which you have constructed,
> encouraged,led, and at times, gently chided,is unparalleled. I join those
> who have already written and those who are still trying to find the words
> to express our collective and personal gratitude for keeping the discourse
> alive. You have given many of us an intellectual home, and encouraged us to
> believe that at a time when dignified exchange of ideas and debate are
> rare, it is still possible, when ably nourished.
> >
> > Warmest wishes for a slowing down time.
> >
> > Gratefully,
> >
> > Vera
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: xmca-l-bounces@mailman.ucsd.edu [mailto:xmca-l-bounces@
> mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of Andy Blunden
> > Sent: Monday, October 24, 2016 5:31 PM
> > To: xmca-l@mailman.ucsd.edu
> > Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Time for a Generational Change
> >
> > I will add my appreciation to what others have said, ... but words
> almost fail me. No-one, no-one in my life has taught me as much as Mike
> Cole, and dare I say that if I managed a little real development late in
> life it was thanks to Mike Cole and this amazing list. The amount of work
> which goes into the kind of care Mike has given to moderating this list
> and personal correspondence is breathtaking and I will be forever grateful
> for that. And when I refer to what Mike "taught" me, this was almost always
> only by creating expectations. I think very often Mike didn't even
> understand what I was saying, but somehow despite this, he gave me the kind
> of guidance that I think everyone craves. Thank you, Mike.
> >
> > For my own part, the horizons of my interests are closing in on me these
> days, the energy for reading new theories and philosophies has almost dried
> up. I am reading many more novels than treatises these days. So it is
> doubtless timely to extend my thanks to all the wonderful correspondents on
> xmca who have given me a hand up over and over down the years.
> >
> >
> > Andy
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > Andy Blunden
> > http://home.mira.net/~andy
> > http://www.brill.com/products/book/origins-collective-decision-making
> >
> > On 25/10/2016 4:35 AM, mike cole wrote:
> >> Hear Yee XMCA -O-Phytes.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Having removed myself from the active faculty of LCHC which is now in
> >> the capable hands of Angela Booker and Stephan Tanaka, the time has
> >> come for me to step back from the doings of MCA and XMCA.  At MCA the
> >> new editorial team of (in reverse alphabetical order, Jennifer
> >> Vadeboncoeur, Bonnie Nardi, Victor Kaptelinin, and Natalia
> >> Gajdamashko) has taken over as editors, and begun the process of
> >> carrying the enterprise into a new generation. I will remain as a kind
> >> of "editor for special projects" for the journal and will continue to
> participate in XMCA.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> But with respect to XMCA it is past time for me to give up what David
> >> Kellogg has called my "pastoral" role in seeking to coordinate and
> >> develop discourse focused around provocative articles that appear in
> the journal.
> >> The original idea was to provide authors with rapid feedback and
> >> public recognition instead of having to wait the 2-3 year cycle of
> >> replying via an authorized journal.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> The reality, as you know, is somewhat different - a mélange of topics
> >> that intersect, loop back on themselves, and leak out into the
> semiosphere.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Luckily, Alfredo Jornet has offered to try his hand at the pastoral
> >> role, and will be recognized on the journal masthead as *MCA Forum
> Mediator*.
> >> Alfredo brings to the task his early career in Spain, his later career
> >> in Norway, and his present career in Victoria. And all of this
> >> international experience before has started "his career." Brave soul.
> >> Alfredo and the editors are considering a variety of options for the
> >> future of the journal, including importantly, its status as a new
> >> medium promoting rapid exchange of the news between otherwise isolated
> >> scholars with complementary interests.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> My participation in xlchc and then xmca has been central to my adult
> >> education, and I appreciate what I have learned here more than words
> >> can suffice to explain. There are not so many academic ecologies in
> >> the world, so enduring those that do spring up seems a worthwhile way
> >> to promote its reproduction.... keeping in mind Phillip White's
> >> reminder that the future of development is not predictable at the level
> of everyday experience.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> As I see it, there are two major failures in this effort over the years.
> >> The first is the enormous imbalance in the gender representation of
> >> the participants. With a few periods where the exceptions ended up
> >> proving the rule, female voices have been conspicuously absent.
> >> Academic "guy talk" has dominated. Understanding and, if possible,
> >> re-mediating that sad set of circumstances seems like a major task for
> the future.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Second, MCA discourse does not accumulate. The discussions are more
> >> like chaining than the development of new concepts. As in the Sakharov
> >> - Vygotsky blocks experiment, we talk about green triangles then blue
> >> triangles then blue squares, each a legitimate line of inquiry, but
> >> constantly changing criteria/topics as we go. Every once in a while we
> >> ascend to the level of pseudo-concepts (these are the cases that evoke
> >> the most controversy it seems to me). My fond hope is that Alfredo and
> >> our sometimes engaged tech gurus will provide a more supportive
> >> environment for the creation of "truce concepts" -- agreement on a
> >> broad set of principles/empirical embodiments and a research program
> >> that identifies the limits of the theory and the most fruitful lines of
> inquiry.
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> Thus spake
> >>
> >> mike
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> >
>
>